Certification of Appreciation
by lcduncan09
Summary: Sakura really thought life was back to being normal. But when she has to save an important life, help her friend run a ninja village, and deal with feelings she had hoped to never meet again, she figures out that normal for a ninja is not normal. WARNING: Rated M for lemony-goodness!


"Shut up, you're annoying."

The words seem to come more often these days, but she held on to those, preciously cradling them in her mind.

It was all he gave her these days.

"Oi, don't talk to her like that!"

It was how it always had been. Well, at least since the day Sasuke had returned to the village three months ago.

"It's fine, Hokage-sama," Sakura gave a mock bow before turning to leave the office. The blonde crinkled his nose, frowning unhappily at the head of the Medical Unit.

"Please don't call me that, Sakura-chan. It still creeps me out." She turned to smile at him softly.

"It's just still so unreal, that's all."

Sakura's eyes wandered to the silent Uchiha in the corner of the office. He was staring out of the window, his arms crossed and face blank.

Had he always been this brooding and handsome?

Without intending to, Sakura's mind wandered to a time long before this, when Naruto had left the village with Jiraya-sensei to become stronger, and when she had felt so useless, and without power, that she racked up the courage to ask the Hokage to become her teacher.

She missed Tsunade-taichou immensely, and couldn't really fathom how Naruto had felt after Jiraya had been killed in action. Just the thought of it made her throat go dry.

"Sakura-chan?"

She shook her head, focusing on the 6th Hokage standing before her. He had adopted a lot from his father, mainly the longer hair and the Hokage rope with flames. How much more Hokage-like Naruto appeared now.

"I am fine, just thinking about the work I still need to do, that's all." He nodded, a sliver of doubt on his brow. Sakura bowed quickly, then turned again to leave. She still needed to do her nightly rounds at the hospital, plus check on the three ninja still in ICU.

Once she reached the hospital, she felt more comfortable. The typical smell of the hospital calmed her nerves, and once she saw the familiar faces of her subordinates, she couldn't have been happier.

"What's the stats on the ICU patients?" The nurse that had handed her the charts straightened her shoulders.

"All three are stable. The patient in room 648 had a Code Blue this afternoon, but we got him right back, and he has been doing great since then."

Sakura huffed loudly, flipping through the pages to get to the patient in room 648. She bit her lip, swallowing back the curse that threatened to erupt.

She had hoped this patient would be better by now. Prayed, even.

"Good job. Take a 30 minute break now while i am here, but report back to me when you get back." She dismissed the nurse with a shrug of her wrist, her eyes still glued to the pages in front of her.

She hurried to the room at the end of the hallway, hesitating slightly with her hand on the doorknob.

What would happen once she entered? Sakura knew she had to stay professional. She also knew that patient 648 needed her help, and that if she made the decision to stay away from this patient, he was going to die.

She sighed heavily, letting her head tip forward until her forehead hit the door with a thud.

She repeated this gesture three more times, desperately trying to clear the confusion from her mind.

Her fingers tightened around the knob, slowly turning the cold metal to open the door.

The first thing she noticed was the open window. It wasn't cold, since it was almost mid May, but the way the curtains billowed in the light breeze caught her eye immediately.

Someone had opened the window. Someone who had not been trained in this hospital, since all the air inside the ICU rooms had to be filtered by a special machine.

Sakura's body followed her train of thought flawlessly. her shoulders tensed while her arm shot out for a kunai knife.

But she stopped. With her index finger in the loop of a kunai she stopped.

In front of the patient, barely even six feet from the window, stood Sasuke with his shoulders slumped and his hands balled into fists. He was visibly shaking, as well, and it scared Sakura as to what could make this fearsome, powerful man act like this.

"Are you just going to stand there?" his voice startled her, but also helped her to focus. She had a job to do.

Her feet silently carried her to the patients bed, and all too soon Sakura remembered why she had hesitated at the door.

"How long have you been here?" She tried to look busy by closing the window, but there was nothing that could go unnoticed by the last Uchiha.

"Like it matters." He hissed. A small smile crossed Sakura's lips. Sasuke would never change, but in a way, he was completely different.

"It does. There is a reason why we try to keep these windows shut," she edged closer to the bed, focusing her eyes on Sasuke, "this patient is in critical condition. We can not risk any kind of infection, Sasuke."

"Patient? "his eyes glimmered with recognition. He knew that she was afraid to look at the patient separating them, "Why don't you call him by his name?"

She swallowed hard, "I am trying to not be biased."

"Bullshit, "he frowned at her, "look at him."

"What are you talking-"

"I said to look at him."

"Its in the handbook-"

"He doesn't deserve this from you."

"I have to play by the-"

"Look at him, Sakura!"

She did.

And she felt like her heart would never be happy again.

"Of all the people to be in here, "Sasuke said, his voice melancholy, "I never thought it would be Kakashi"

* * *

Hello fellow Fanficton-iers!

Trying out a new story. But no worries, 'He couldn't' will not be forgotten! lol so have fun reading this, please review, it encourages me!

Oh! and this is just like a little tester chapter, so the following ones will be longer.

xoxo

-Leah


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